Bryant Gumbel's Opinion

“Because the Winter Games are so trying, maybe over the next three weeks we should all try too. Like try not to be incredulous when someone tries to link these games to those of the ancient Greeks who never heard of skating or skiing. So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of Blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention. Try not to point out that something’s not really a sport if a pseudo-athlete waits in what’s called a “kiss and cry area” while some panel of subjective judges decides who won. And try to blot out all logic when announcers and sports writers pretend to care about the luge, the skeleton, the biathlon, and all those other events they don’t understand and totally ignore for all but three weeks every four years. Face it, these Olympics are little more than a marketing plan to fill space and sell time during the dreary days of February. So, if only to hasten the arrival of the day they’re done, and we can move on to March Madness, for God’s sake, let the Games begin.”

My thoughts:

1. Come on, this guy hosts a Sports Program on HBO! Isn't he paid to market the program and sports in general? Or is he paid to condone and rank the validity and popularity of sports and games, in general. I'm not professing to know. I don't watch the show, nor will I ever, after this enticing quote!
2. This weekend, the NBA All-Star Game and Festivities is being held here in Houston. A very small percentage of the athletes selected to participate are white, but there will plenty of white folks buying tickets and filling the arena!
3. How stupid would I be... and how much would I miss... if I elected not to renew my WNBA season tickets, because there were no short, chubby white female athletes!
4. I think of them as the Cold and Hot Olympics. I think the sports and events are popular, according to their ready availability. The fact is, different countries and cultures will have different sports available to them. I heard today, on talk radio, someone describe them as the Expensive and Inexpensive Olympics. That has some validity that I had never considered. Whatever... different strokes for different folks. If you had to have the ability to participate in a sport to enjoy it, there would be very few sports fans!
5. I'm going to date myself, but I remember when snowboarding was first introduced on the slopes! I was a one-week-a-year skier, skiing blues... and those snowboarders were the bain of my existence during that one week! They were unpredictable and they ALWAYS fell in my path! I resented them, and I might have even cursed them once or twice. And now the snowboarding events are some of my favorite to watch! Personal growth... what a concept!
6. I've never liked Bryant because he doesn't ever seem to get along with anyone else, including co-hosts who he's paid (well) to act like he likes and respects.
7. Is his last name Gumbel? Or GRUMBLE???
8. I don't think Bryant is a racist, necessarily. I just think he's a PUTZ!